Cheticamp, St. Peter’s the latest to lose standalone liquor stores

The Nova Scotia Liquor Corp. is looking for a new retail outlet for its store in St. Peter’s. At some NSLC sites, the age and condition of the building is driving the decision to lease another space rather than continuing to operate the liquor store from its existing location. - Google Street View

NSLC seeks to lease space for rural outlets

CHETICAMP, N.S.

The Nova Scotia Liquor Corp. is looking to lease retail space in two rural communities in Cape Breton.

It currently owns and operates standalone liquor outlets in Cheticamp and St. Peter’s.

However, the NSLC issued a negotiable request for proposals, which closed on Wednesday, looking for property owners to come forward with proposals to lease 3,000 to 3,400 square feet of retail space to the NSLC so it can “offer a more modern retail environment, enhanced product selection and an improved shopping experience,” according to the tender document.

NSLC is also closing the existing liquor store in Whitney Pier in order to lease space for an express outlet that’s about half the size of a typical standalone liquor store.

It’s intended as a convenient location for customers that offers a more limited selection of product from what is found at NSLC’s full-sized locations.

The province is also searching for new NSLC site locations in Inverness, Aulds Cove and Stewiacke.

In an emailed response last week, NSLC spokesperson Bev Ware said the new retail liquor outlets in Cheticamp and St. Peter’s will offer a “better product assortment” that’s “well suited” to those communities.

“They will be known as Select stores, which means they will carry more than 500 of our top-selling products with flexibility for the store managers to feature local favourites, as well as locally made products,” she said.

The pace of the transition depends on the chosen landlord and the condition of the building — whether it’s new or an existing structure — but it’s expected to be complete by the end of the next fiscal year on March 31, 2019.

The cost to renovate the interior to meet NSLC’s requirements will be determined through a public procurement process, Ware added.

She said the existing stores will be turned over to the province in order to determine future use.

Ware said a ranking system is used to determine which outlets require immediate attention.

“These stores in particular are part of an intentional effort to revitalize our rural store network.”

The most common reasons some existing stores don’t fit current needs include a lack of floor space, limited parking, a poor location and no accessibility for disabled persons.